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1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to financial transaction cards, including credit cards, debit cards, ATM (Automated Teller Machine) cards, and the like. More specifically, the invention relates to the processing of financial transaction cards using automated card processing systems, such as counters, sorters, etc. Still more particularly, the invention concerns the processing of financial transaction cards using automated edge scanning techniques.
2. Description of the Prior Art
By way of background, automated card processing systems are used to process (e.g., count, sort, etc.) large numbers of financial transaction cards, thus saving the time and expense required to process such cards by non-automated methods. One use of equipment of this type is to determine the number of individual cards present in a given set or batch of cards. For example, financial transaction card manufacturers need to be able to automatically count the number of cards produced during a production run of cards for a particular customer or for a particular card type. By way of further example, financial transaction card customers, such as banks, typically count their cards on a regular basis (e.g., daily) for security reasons.
In conventional card processing systems of the card counting type, finished cards are placed in a stack and a scanner visually scans the edges of the cards. Such a card stack is shown by way of example in FIG. 1, with the card edges being disproportionately enlarged for clarity and ease of explanation. Individual cards can be identified by the scanner because there is a visual (light/dark) contrast between a card edge""s white plastic core section (comprising one or more core sheets) and the darker areas that appear above and below each core section. These darker appearing areas are due to the thin surface overlays that are present on the front and back of each card (front overlays and rear overlays, respectively), and the spaces that exist between cards (inter-card spaces) when the card stack is formed. A typical automated card counting apparatus of the foregoing type would be one of the 640 Series Stak-Kounter machines made by Spartanics, Inc. of Rolling Meadows, Ill.
Applicant has previously proposed financial transaction cards that are transparent or translucent when viewed on their planar faces. Examples of such cards are disclosed in copending application serial Nos. 09/411,359, 09/449,251, and 09/675,912. Insofar as these cards are made from transparent or translucent sheet stock material, the cards do not appear to have crisp white core sections when viewed on-edge. These non-white core sections do not contrast well with the front and rear overlays of the cards, and this lack of contrast makes it difficult for such cards to be accurately counted by conventional automated card counting systems. For example, in some card embodiments of the above-referenced applications, a two-sheet core section is used that comprises a front core sheet and a rear core sheet. Although the rear core sheet appears somewhat light, the front core sheet appears dark when viewed on-edge due to the front graphics and the way the cards are cut by production cutting shears. The required contrast between the core section and the front and rear overlays is thus lacking. In other types of transparent/translucent cards, the core section of the card may actually be slightly darker than the card""s front and rear overlay sections.
An additional deficiency of automated card processing schemes using conventional edge scanning is that there is no way for the processing equipment to distinguish between cards from different production runs, or cards produced for different customers. Manufacturers typically rely on human operators to ensure that edge-scan processing of one batch of cards has completed before edge-scan processing of another card batch begins. In this scenario, it is possible for the operator to make a mistake and for cards from different batches to be intermixed prior to edge scanning.
Accordingly, a need exists for a solution to the problem of processing financial transaction cards using conventional automated card processing systems, such as card counters. This problem is particularly acute in the case of transparent/translucent financial cards, which lack the edge contrast that automated card counters need in order to accurately differentiate between cards. What is required is a methodology by which financial transaction cards can be reliably processed, without undue cost and preferably without modification of existing processing equipment.
A solution to the foregoing problem is provided, and an advance in the art is achieved, by a method for improving the readability of a financial transaction card having poor edge contrast by an automated card processing system equipped with a card edge scanner. According to the method, an edge of a card to be scanned by the edge scanner is selected. A core section, a front overlay section, and a rear overlay section of the selected card edge are identified. A contrast enhancer is provided on the core section between the front overlay and rear overlay sections. The contrast enhancer is formed such that it contrasts well with the front overlay and rear overlay sections to render the card processible by the processing system. A financial transaction card that has been configured with the aforementioned contrast enhancer is also disclosed.
The foregoing and other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of preferred embodiments of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.